"2 for Tuesday": DC Fires & April Baseball Recap

As I was catching up on a few things while coming back from my vacation in DC and Orlando, I decided to take a break and check out a few of my favorite blogs on the net... Although my TV was on all day (on ESPN), I really hadn't been paying much attention to it as I was in "task mode" trying to play catch up. Late in the afternoon, I went over to my friend Kate Michael's blog and was horrified to see that there had been two really bad fires in Washington DC!

Given that I had been in DC only four days earlier, and that I had enjoyed my stay so much this really hit home with me. The first fire struck early in the morning at the Eastern Market - just East of Capitol Hill and only a little more than a mile away from the Best Western hotel I was staying in while in DC. Although I didn't actually visit the Eastern Market, I had passed very close to it this past Monday while walking... The Washington Times has a photo gallery of the damage: Eastern Market Photo Gallery


The second fire REALLY hit me as it struck in Georgetown - a place I had visited and spent a great deal of time in this past Tuesday and Wednesday. Both days I posted my blog from the Lauinger Library - less than 3/4 of a mile away from the Georgetown Library just to the north and east. My cousin, Melinda had given me a full tour of the Georgetown campus during the early afternoon hours that Wednesday - we walked very close to, but not in, the Georgetown Library while finishing up our tour. The Times has some photos from Georgetown as well: Georgetown Library Photo Gallery


I can only hope that both the Market and the Library can be restored and rebuilt. Right now I'm thinking about what I can personally do to help...

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It is May 1st, and that means we are 1/6 of the way into the baseball season. Before looking at the individual teams and accomplishments, I want to give an update on my Fantasy teams... As I've mentioned before, I'm in four competitive money leagues - three through CBS Sportsline and 1 through Yahoo. A month in and things are going well - I have one of the Sportsline teams in first, while the other three teams are in either 5th or 6th. The 5th place Sportsline team is only 7 1/2 points out of first in a very tight race - I actually was in first in that league this past Friday... standings still change a lot when we're this early into the season.

As for the real teams, well the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox are off to fine starts and the New York Yankees have struggled in spite of the amazing start of Alex Rodriguez...


Now let's take a look at the "hits and misses" from April:

HITTERS

HITS:
1. Alex Rodriguez (NYY) - 14 HR, 34 RBI, 27 RUNS, .355 BA, 2 SB
2. Vladimir Guerrero (LAA) - 7 HR, 23 RBI, 14 RUNS, .366 BA, 1 SB
3. Magglio Ordonez (DET) - 4 HR, 26 RBI, 20 RUNS, .344 BA, 0 SB
4. Ian Kinsler (TEX) - 9 HR, 22 RBI, 18 RUNS, .298 BA, 4 SB
5. David Ortiz (BOS) - 7 HR, 22 RBI, 18 RUNS, .297 BA, 0 SB
6. Carlos Beltran (NYM) - 6 HR, 23 RBI, 17 RUNS, .356 BA, 5 SB
7. Jose Reyes (NYM) - 2 HR, 18 RBI, 26 RUNS, .356 BA, 17 SB
8. Chipper Jones (ATL) - 8 HR, 17 RBI, 22 RUNS, .310 BA, 0 SB
9. Adrian Gonzalez (SD) - 7 HR, 25 RBI, 15 RUNS, .309 BA, 0 SB
10. Jeff Francoeur (ATL) - 5 HR, 25 RBI, 16 RUNS, .306 BA, 0 SB
11. Jimmy Rollins (PHI) - 9 HR, 18 RBI, 26 RUNS, .297 BA, 6 SB

MISSES:
1. Ryan Langerhans (OAK) - .068 BA, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 3 RUNS, 0 SB
2. Kevin Kouzmanoff (SD) - .113 BA, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1 RUN, 0 SB
3. Ryan Shealy (KC) - .113 BA, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1 RUN, 0 SB
4. Wilson Betemit (LAD) - .125 BA, 0 HR, 6 RBI, 4 RUNS, 0 SB
5. Adam LaRoche (PIT) - .133 BA, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 8 RUNS, 0 SB
6. Frank Catalanotto (TEX) - .140 BA, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 7 RUNS, 0 SB
7. Richie Sexson (SEA) - .145 BA, 3 HR, 13 RBI, 4 RUNS, 0 SB
8. Ben Zobrist (TAM) - .148 BA, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 4 RUNS, 2 SB
9. Brandon Inge (DET) - .150 BA, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 10 RUNS, 3 SB


PITCHERS

HITS:
1. John Maine (NYM) - 4-0 record, 1.35 ERA, 1.050 WHIP, 30 K's
2. Tim Hudson (ATL) - 3-0 record, 1.40 ERA, 0.911 WHIP, 32 K's
3. Ian Snell (PIT) - 2-1 record, 1.59 ERA, 1.029 WHIP, 28 K's
4. Rich Hill (CHI) - 3-1 record, 1.77 ERA, 0.869 WHIP, 29 K's
5. Jake Peavy (SD) - 3-1 record, 2.06 ERA, 1.068 WHIP, 46 K's
6. Ted Lilly (CHI) - 2-2 record, 2.18 ERA, 0.788 WHIP, 33 K's
7. Roy Halladay (TOR) - 4-0 record, 2.28 ERA, 0.887 WHIP, 33 K's
8. Josh Beckett (BOS) - 5-0 record, 2.48 ERA, 1,041 WHIP, 28 K's
9. Cole Hamels (PHI) - 2-1 record, 3.24 ERA, 1.230 WHIP, 37 K's
10. Johan Santana (MIN) - 3-2 record, 3.60 ERA, 1.075 WHIP, 45 K's
11. James Sheilds (TB) - 2-0 record, 3.75 ERA, 0.917 WHIP, 37 K's
12. Francisco Cordero (MIL) - 10 SV, 0.00 ERA, 0.792 WHIP, 19 K's
13. Francisco Rodriguez (LAA) - 9 SV, 2.92 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 20 K's
14. Al Reyes (TB) - 9 SV, 1.50 ERA, 0.583 WHIP, 16 K's
15. Jonathan Papelbon (BOS) - 8 SV, 0.00 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 15 K's

MISSES:
1. Mariano Rivera (NY) - 1 SV, 2 blown saves, 10.57 ERA, 1.83 WHIP
2. B.J. Ryan (TOR) - 3 SV, 2 blown saves, 12.46 ERA, 2.539 WHIP
3. Trevor Hoffman (SD) - 5 SV, 2 blown saves, 6.28 ERA, 1.269 WHIP
4. Jorge Julio (FLA) - 0 SV, 2 blown saves, 19.06 ERA, 4.59 WHIP
5. Jeff Weaver (SEA) - 0-4 record, 18.26 ERA, 3.09 WHIP
6. Tony Armas (PIT) - 0-2 record, 11.57 ERA, 2.74 WHIP
7. Mark Redman (ATL) - 0-3 record, 10.13 ERA, 1.88 WHIP
8. Brandon McCarthy (TEX) - 1-4 record, 9.90 ERA, 2.10 WHIP
9. Jae Seo (TB) - 1-2 record, 9.51 ERA, 2.15 WHIP
10. Casey Fosssum (TB) - 2-2 record, 8.58 ERA, 1.55 WHIP